The Voice of Cities and Regions
in the UNFCCC Climate Process

Every month, you’ll receive updates about how cities and regions are engaging in the global climate agenda and other global sustainability processes, prepared for you by the Global Advocacy team at ICLEI – Local Governments for Sustainability.

Through our webinars and bulletin, ICLEI’s Director of Global Advocacy Yunus Arikan, will be highlighting developments and key topics from the global climate arena to orient local and regional governments on the important issues of multilevel governance and progress in the global climate negotiations through the year, and in the leadup to COP29.

The LGMA has served as the voice of cities and regions in global processes since were designated an official United Nations constituency group at the 1992 UN Earth Summit. We advocated for local governments at the first climate COP in 1995 and continue to achieve advocacy success for multilevel action across the climate, nature, and desertification agendas. Learn about our advocacy channels and get involved!

Launched at COP28, CHAMP focuses on enhancing multilevel governance to ensure that climate commitments are not only made at the national level but also effectively implemented through coordinated efforts at all levels.

It aims to drive more ambitious climate action by fostering collaboration between different levels of government, including national, regional, and local authorities, as well as non-state actors such as businesses and civil society.

Under the banner #Stocktake4ClimateEmergency, cities, towns, and regions hosted local stocktakes that provided an official contribution to the Paris Agreement’s Global Stocktake — essentially turning their city halls and regional parliaments into mini-COP venues.

During these events, city stakeholders asked “Where are we? Where do we want to go? How do we get there in an equitable and just way?” concerning their local ambition, national climate plans, and global climate justice.

We need effective multi-level governance to transform cities. To achieve this vision, the COP27 Presidency has launched the SURGe Initiative with the objective to enhance and accelerate local and urban climate action through multi-level governance, engagement, and delivery through five integrated tracks, contributing to achieving the Paris Climate Goals and Sustainable Development Goals.

SURGe is developed in collaboration with UN-Habitat, facilitated by ICLEI, and endorsed by 70+ global partners.